Daily COVID-19 case counts in Utah now include breakdown of school-aged children

Aug 20, 2021, 1:20 PM | Updated: Aug 2, 2022, 12:37 pm

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A teacher wearing a mask instructs her students, also wearing masks and sitting socially distantanced from one another, during class at Antelope Canyon Elementary on Aug 31, 2020. (Doug Flagler, Jordan School District)

(Doug Flagler, Jordan School District)

BY BECKY BRUCE

News Director

SALT LAKE CITY — The latest COVID-19 case numbers from the Utah Department of Health included a breakdown of new infections among school-aged children.

Of the 1,116 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Utah on Friday, 216 involved children between the ages of 5 and 18, the health department said in its daily email communication providing those figures.

This is the first time the daily message included specific data about children diagnosed with COVID-19. Previously, those numbers were only available through the state’s COVID-19 dashboard at https://coronavirus.utah.gov.

Children and COVID: breaking down the numbers

Breaking the numbers down further, the health department reported 81 cases of COVID-19 among children ages 5 – 10, 50 among children ages 11 – 13, and 85 cases among children ages 14 – 18.

Those represent new cases reported Friday, rather than a two-week average or a cumulative count.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Utah Department of Health reports a total of 1,553 cases of COVID-19 involving infants under the age of 1. Of those, 81 infants required hospitalization, roughly 5.2% of the cases.

For the age range of 1 to 14, UDOH figures show a total of 48,882 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. 344 of those required hospitalization, or 0.7%.

Of the 104,548 reported cases of COVID-18 among Utahns aged 15 – 24, 1,404 required hospitalization, or 1.3%.

The state does not provide a detailed breakdown of deaths among Utahns under the age of 14, because there are fewer than five for ages 0 – 1, and fewer than five for ages 1 – 14. For any category with fewer than five deaths, the state displays the number, if greater than zero, as less than five to protect the privacy of those who died. Nine Utahns between the ages of 15 and 24 have died since the pandemic began.

COVID-19 in Utah generally

Since the start of the pandemic, the Utah Department of Health has reported 451,655 positive cases of COVID-19. State health officials estimate 429,576 of those to have recovered, meaning more than two weeks have passed since their positive test result without death.

In addition to the new information about children, the daily report regularly includes information about your risk of contracting COVID-19, winding up in the hospital, or dying if unvaccinated. Health officials say since Feb. 1, 2021, “people who are unvaccinated are at 7.8 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, 5.8 times greater risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 5.3 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 than vaccinated people.”

Nine more Utahns died from COVID-19 in the latest report, for a total of 2,572 since the start of the pandemic. They ranged in age from 45 to 84.

How To Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus

COVID-19 coronavirus spreads person to person, similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:

Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds.
Don’t touch your face.
Wear a mask to protect yourself and others per CDC recommendations.
Keep children and those with compromised immune systems away from someone who is coughing or sneezing (in this instance, at least six feet).
If there is an outbreak near you, practice social distancing (stay at home, instead of going to the movies, sports events, or other activities).
Obtain a flu shot.
Seek out the COVID-19 vaccine.